Day 17: Genius, A Photobiography of Albert Einstein by Marfe Ferguson Delano

This book is part of the National Geographic Society’s Photobiography series. The premise of the series is a biography filled with photos and images from the subject’s life. Throughout the book are pictures from Einstein’s life and images of letters and articles he wrote. Einstein was a fascinating man. I read somewhere that Einstein had a genius level IQ but it was his ability to see the world differently that made him a revolutionary scientist. As a child Einstein wonder what it would be like to run after a ray of light and ride the beam. This childhood wonder lead him to the theory of relativity. He was able to take what previous scientists had learned about our world and go further with it to change the whole field of science and how many saw the universe. The book wonderfully blends details about Einstein’s life with simplistic explanations of his scientific theories. I learned some interesting facts about Einstein that I will not forget. Einstein was a very good student and was never kicked out of school or failed math. He excelled at math and science but did not pay attention in classes that he did not find interesting, something I can relate to. Einstein was deeply committed to peace and was a pacifist. He never participated in the Manhattan Project. Final fun fact, in 1952 the Nation of Israel, after the death of its first president, asked Einstein to be president. He was deeply humbled and honored by the request but he declined. I would recommend this book for fifth grade and middle school students and I am excited to read more books in this series.